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South Korea finance min says current weakness in job market due to global issues

Tue, Jun 28, 2016 - 12:19 PM

[SEOUL] South Korea's finance minister said on Tuesday current weakness in the domestic job market are due to global issues, pointing to weak exports that have been falling since January 2015.

"Right now the employment rate is just below 67 per cent and a big part of that is due to global troubles," finance minister Yoo Il Ho told a press briefing announcing the government's plan to draw up a supplementary budget.

"Exports have been falling last year and this year. This has affected manufacturing and in turn, hindering our efforts to achieve our employment goal (of 70 per cent)," he said.

Mr Yoo added that the government has not yet given up on achieving its goal.